Arkansas State
Arkansas State

Arkansas State Team Report

Updated: February 03, 2012 12:30 EST

Arkansas State seems to be heading in the right direction after playing in its second ever Bowl game and winning the outright Sun Belt Conference championship trophy during the 2011 season.

Not only did the Red Wolves win 10 games overall while going a perfect 8-0 in conference action on the way to a 10-3 record that ended with an early January loss to Northern Illinois in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala., but they played well enough to earn their first year head coach, Hugh Freeze, a promotion to his dream job at Ole Miss.

The loss of Freeze was a bit of a downer to the city of Jonesboro and the Red Wolf community but the loss didn't sting long once Arkansas State announced the hiring of Gus Malzahn on Dec. 15 to be the new man in charge.

Malzahn had previously turned down jobs such as Vanderbilt and had even been tied to places like Ole Miss and Vanderbilt but said in his introductory press conference that ASU was "right place at the right time" for him and that he took passion in trying to build programs.

Malzahn didn't have much time to put his first recruiting class together but when it was said and done many experts believed it was the top class in the Sun Belt after the Red Wolves inked 22 high school players, six junior college transfers and two FBS transfers that included former BCS National Championship Offensive Player of the Game Michael Dyer and offensive lineman Travis Bodenstein, who come from Auburn and Kansas respectively.

Both players are originally from Arkansas and were recruited by Malzahn during his time at Auburn where he was offensive coordinator for a National Championship team.

Malzahn signed 13 players who are from the state of Arkansas.

"They are high character people and that's what we are going to bring into this program, men of character that are going to represent this university and represent this team the right way," Malzahn said. "We will develop better relationships with the days ahead but we are tickled to death to have this group."

TOP OF THE CLASS

DB Chris Humes (Spain Park, Hoover, Ala.) -- Three-star recruit by Scout.com, which lists Humes as the No. 64 cornerback in the nation and three-star recruit by Rivals.com, ranking him the No. 23 player in the state of Alabama. Humes was also three-star recruit by 247Sports.com, which lists him as the No. 61 corner in the nation and No. 26 overall player in the state and three-star recruit by ESPN.com, listing Humes as the No. 26 overall player in the state and No. 33 cornerback in the nation. Named Class 6A?All-State honorable mention as a senior by the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Played in the 2011 Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game. Recorded 44 tackles, including three for a loss, during the 2011 season.

LB Eddie Porter (Blinn (Texas) College, Woodlands, Texas) -- Three-star recruit by Rivals.com, 247Sports and Scout.com. 247Sports No. 52 junior college player in the nation and SuperPrep JUCO?100 selection, ranking as the No. 30 junior college player in the nation by the publication. Named a First Team All-Southwest Junior College Football?Conference selection as a sophomore in 2011 while helping lead Blinn to a 9-2 record and No. 10 ranking in the final NJCAA Football Poll. Recorded 65 tackles and 4 sacks through 10 games in 2011, prior to the Blinn's appearance in the Mississippi Bowl

DE John Gandy (Blinn (Texas) College, Houston, Texas) --Gandy earned honorable mention NJCAA All-American honors as a sophomore and was named a first team All-Southwest Junior College Football Conference selection as a sophomore in 2011 while helping Blinn to a 9-2 record. Posted 33 tackles and two sacks as a sophomore after recording 29 tackles, 4.5 sacks and a fumble recovery as a freshman. Two-Star recruit by all services.

--RB Michael Dyer joins the Arkansas State program after two years in the Auburn program in which he rushed for 2,335 yards and 15 touchdowns while rushing for over 1,000 yards as both a freshman and sophomore. In two seasons, Dyer had 10 games of at least 100 yards rushing and five games of 150 yards rushing while being the first Auburn running back to rush for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons. Was rated among the top three tailbacks of his class coming out of high school.

--Defensive Coordinator Keith Patterson was hired by Arkansas State on Jan. 4. He spent one year as Pittsburgh's defensive coordinator and held the title of interim head coach for the teams bowl game on Jan. 7th. Before going to Pitt he spent eight seasons at Tulsa where he spent the 2007 and 2008 seasons with coach Malzahn.

SPRING SNAPSHOT:

Practice begins/ends: March 22/April 4

Practice priorities: The offensive system that Malzahn runs is similar to the one that was incorporated by Freeze but some terminology may be different. More changes will come on the defensive side of the ball where the Red Wolves will be looking to replace two key defensive linemane, a linebacker and safety. Malzahn said as with any new coach taking a job that all starting jobs will be available come practice time.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I told our staff if it's close we're going with an Arkansas guy and that will be our philosophy the whole time we're here." -- Coach Gus Malzahn on recruiting the state of Arkansas like it's never been done before.

KEY LOSSES: There are some key losses for the Red Wolfs this season but their replacements are unknown after Malzahn said every player on the roster has a chance to compete for playing time. Look for some of the JUCO signees to try and replace the losses of defensive end Brandon Joiner, tackle Dorvus Woods and linebacker Demario Davis, all who were top caliber players in the Sun Belt. Joiner led the conference and was top five in the country in sacks. Senior receiver Dwayne Frampton will also need replaced after catching 94 passes for 1,156 yards and six touchdowns as a senior.

PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2012:

WR Josh Jarboe -- The senior-to-be came to ASU last season from JUCO after previously signing with Oklahoma out of high school and then playing with fellow SBC member Troy. Jarboe battled a few injuries during his junior season but still managed to haul in 54 receptions for 730 yards and two touchdowns, including a 71-yarder. Jarboe has the size and skill set of an NFL size receiver.

RB Frankie Jackson -- The sophomore rushed for 355 yards on 88 carries after also battling injuries early during the season. Jackson was a considered a top prospect coming out of high school but was first to sit out his first year on campus due to academic hold backs.

QB Ryan Aplin -- Record-setting quarterback Ryan Aplin returns for his senior season looking for back to back SBC titles after throwing for 3,588 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior. Aplin was also the team's leading the rusher with 588 yards and 10 touchdowns on his way to being the Sun Belts top offensive player.

K Brian Davis -- The junior returns after making 44 of 47 extra points and 18 of 23 field goals that included making at least 9-of-11 field goals in between 30 and 40 yards.

PLAYER NOTES

--K Bobby Zalud was informed by the new coaching staff that he will no longer be on scholarship as the coaches elected Brian Davis as their scholarship kicker in an attempt to free up scholarships for other positions of need. Zalud, a junior to be, was an important piece of ASU's success last year as the long distance kicker in which he made 6 of 11 field goals. Zalud connected of 4 of 7 attempts between 40 and 50 yards and made 2 of 4 from beyond 50 that included a long of 56.

=====